Wire coiling machine with rotating mandrel and coiling tools



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 W M R n FflL m n .4 m M m 1% A W W m T Jan. 13, 1959 Original Filed Oct. 12

an QM MM 0 o o o o 0\\. NH Two no.

Jan. 13, 1959 s A PLATT 2,868,267

WIRE COILING MA CHINE WITH ROTATING MANDREL AND COILING TOOLS Original Filed Oct. 12. 1951 r 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVENTOR 1;]. STEPH EN A. mm

2 ATTORNEY s. A.- PLATT 2,368,267 WIRE COILING MACHINE WITH ROTATING MANDREL AND COILING TOOLS Original Filed Oct. 12, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet a Jan. 13, 1959 INVENTOR EPHEN A- PLATT ATTORNEY I mY Jan. 1 1959 s. A. PLATT 2,868,267

WIRE comm MACHINE WITH ROTATING MANDREL AND COILING TOOLS Original Filed Oct. 12, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR STEPHEN A. PLATT 1U. ll. yggm Jan. 13, 1959 s. A. PLATT WIRE COILING MAC 2,868,267 HINE WITH ROTATING MANDREL AND COILING TOOLS Original Filed Oct. 12, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 VII/1% INVENTOR STEPHEN A. PLATT ATTORNEY United States Patent C) WIRE COILING MACHINE WITH ROTATING MANDREL AND COILING TOOLS Stephen A. Platt, Grand Haven, Mich.

Continuation of application Serial No. 251,053, October This application March 21, 1957, Serial No.

8 Claims. (Cl. 153-64) Particularly, but not exclusively in the electrical arts, there are manifold requirements for the economic mass production of helical wire coils of wire sizes, coil pitch, coil sizes and coil tension conditions depending upon the service to which a particular coil is to be put. The art of resistance type heater coils for various kinds of furnaces and general purpose heaters is a good example.

In keeping with its general objects, my invention provides, for such usages as the foregoing, new and improved automatically functioning machines which have such prominent advantages as the following with respect to machines hitherto available: greater versatility, i. e., ability to be set, as desired, to accommodate wider ranges of wire sizes, coil sizes, coil pitches or conditions of tension within the coil; greater reliability against failure during high speed production; and improved ability to cut the wire neatly and accurately at the end of each coil without mangling the same, whereby to provide the highly desirable characteristic that successively produced coils are highly uniform one to the other as to their geometry and electrical resistance.

The combinations of elements and techniques comprising the invention and which provide the foregoing advantages, as well as others, will better be understood by reference to the following description of one illustrative embodiment. It is to be understood, of course, that numerous modifications of this embodiment may be made without departing from the full scope of the invention.

In the annexed drawings which show the illustrative embodiment:

Fig. 1 is a top elevational View of the entire machine showing its coil winding section at the left and its coil cutting section at the right;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the winding section;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the winding section;

Fig. 4 is a view looking downward as though along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

t Fig. 5 shows details of the mounting and structure of the drive rollers and is a section along the line 5--5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 illustrates the structure and mounting of the lever for controlling the bias of the drive rollers as well as the mechanism for shifting one roller axially, this view being viewed as though along the line 6-6 of Fig.2;

Fig. 7 is a view as though along the line 77 of Fig.6;

Patented Jan. 13, 1959 ice tions between a continually moving coil and the knife blades;

Fig. 14 is a section along the line 14-14 of Fig. 12 showing the knife blade mechanisms, together with the electromagnet which actuates them;

Fig. 15 is a section along the line 15-15 of Fig. 12 and illustrates the mechanism for ejecting finished and cut lengths of coils from the machine.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, the machine may be considered as being comprised of two general sections, a coil-winding section which is generally the angularly disposed mechanism to the left of the helical coil 20 in Fig. 1, and the coil cutting section which is to the right of the coil 20. The function of the winding section is to wind continuously a helical coil from a wire supply on reel 21 and pass it on to the cutter section as the coil 20 which advances continually in its longitudinal direction into the cutter'section. The function of the cutting section is to cut off predetermined lengths of the coil 20 as it advances. It is contemplated that this automatic continuous action will take place at very high speeds and frequently with wire which is very fine or otherwise very difficult to handle. As previously indicated, the arrangements illustrated and to be pointed out later in greater detail are all conceived primarily with a view to making possible the high speed handling of fine wire with a high degree of reliability against failure in operation so that the machine may be left to operate without operator attention for substantial periods of time.

The helical coil 20 is formed on a constant speed mandrel 22 (better seen in Figs. 3, 4 and 5) with the co-opcrating action of a pair of drive rollers :23 which are slightly spaced from the mandrel and so arranged that they may frictionally engage the wire coil thereon from diametrically opposite points. A manually adjustable variable speed drive 24 having the ratio indicator 24a (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) providing the power for the rollers 23,

the feature of variability being provided in accordance with the invention so that the surface speeds of the coil 20 and rollers 23 may be either synchronized or set slightly ofi synchronism, as required for reasons explained later. Rollers 23 are mounted in fixed relation to the base structure 25 of the machine except for rotation and the bias adjustment presently to be indicated; they are driven through the flexible shafts 26 which not only accommodate the bias adjustment but also insure the equalization of the work forces on the coil 20.

Although the axes of the rollers 23 and the mandrel 22 are roughly parallel, the axes of the rollers maybe biased slightly with respect to the axis of the mandrel in order that the direction of rotation of the periphery of the rollers will align itself with the pitch of the spiral coil- 20 and thus the rollers will exert forces on the wire in directions only longitudinal thereto (no-forces transverse to the wire). This adjustment is made possible by the roller bias arms 27 pivotably mounted on bolts 28 on adjustable roller support arms 45 so as to be rotatable in generally vertical planes. With this arrangement, the axis of one roller 23 may be tilted slightly upward while the axis of the other is tilted slightly downward. The line between the pivots on bolts 28 traverses approximately the axes of rollers 23 and mandrel 22 and the tilting rotation of the rollers is about this line: between the pivots on bolts 28. The lever mechanism by which the bias adjustment of the rollers is made includes the man ually operable lever 29 (Figs. 4 and 6) but otherwise the mechanisms will be detailed later.

The mechanisms of the cutting section include the knife blades 30 (movable) and 31 (fixed) best illustrated in Fig. 14, as well as mechanisms later detailed which automatically and periodically actuate the knife blades to cut off successive predetermined lengths of coil 20 after such lengths have passed by the knife blades. In accordance with the invention, the relations between the cutting blades 30 and 31, and the continually moving coil 20 are such that the blade 30 may move so far past the fixedblade 31 in performing its cutting function on the wiretha't'on the return stroke of blade 30, the continually advancing 'coil will ride transversely up on the inclined back or upper-edge 32 of the blade 30 so that the knife action has substantially no tendency to interfere with or block the oncoming motion of the coil 20. That is to say, in its forward or cutting stroke the blade 30 will move far enough in the leftward directions as seen in Fig. 14 to remove'itself completelyfrom the path of the advancing coil 2t); yet on the return stroke to thepositio'n indicated by Fig. 14, that portion of the coil 20 which has continued to advance during the cutting operation will 'ride up transversely to the length of the coil on the inclined back edge 32 of blade 30 and then fall off to resume the position shown in Fig. 14.

The mechanisms "for driving the rollers and for adjusting their bias and speed with respect to the mandrel or coil, give the machine an ability to accommodate a wide range of wire sizes, coil sizes, coil pitches or conditions of tension within the coil. For example, particularly-with very fine wire, it is essential that the bias of the rollers be properly set to avoid the application of forces other than strictly longitudinally of the wire; otherwise such a machineis very apt to mangle the coil, i. e., if the rollers apply forces'having components transverse to the wire. Further, the use of the flexible drive shafts, which eliminate radial thrusts and leave only torque in the rollers, enhances the ability to handle fine wire by eliminating other forces which might tend to mangle the coil. Additionally, it is often desirable to give the finished coils different conditions of internal strain or tension, depending upon the use to which they maybe put;-it may be desirable that they be so strained internally as to insure a tight winding, or just the reverse, i. e., so strained internally as to produce a loose winding. The choice between situations of this kind is readily available, because the rollers 23 may be driven either faster or slower than the coil (as to surface speed) so that they may be used to establish different conditions of internal strain between the inner and outer surfaces of the coiled form. For example, tightness of coiling is desirable to minimize'shipping problems; whereas, it is frequently-desirable to loosen the coil to prevent sticking of the same to the mandrel which would tend to interfere with uniformity of its continuous motion.

The fact that the power can be removed from the drive rollers so that they ride freely adds further to the versatility; it is sometimes desirable that the rollers contact the wire coil but nevertheless neither apply power to it nor brake it. In other cases, it may be desirable to apply power through one roller while the other rides freely.

An important feature of the invention is the relative orientation of the two sections, i. e., the coiling section and cutting section. This has an important bearing on the ability of the machine to operateunfailingly at high speed and to make neat-accurate cuts. It will be observed from the Fig. 1 that the axis of the mandrel 22 is at an angle to the straight line path which the coil 24 takes after it enters the cutter section. The purpose of this is to cause the coil 2t) to'bend in a curved path just preceding the knife blades and thus to be biased by its own elasticity against the'fixed knife blade 31 (Fig. 14). This insures that the continuously moving coil will be held in fixed position for engagement by the moving knife blade 30; without such arrangement it has been found that the coil tends to wander erratically short distances away from a normal position to a sufiicient extent to interfere with the accuracy of the cutting operation. With the feature it 'has been'found thatthe outer surface of the coil will ride smoothly over'the cutting edge of'the fixed knife blade 31 at all times. The degree 'of curvature necessary in the portion of coil 20 just preceding entry to the knife blades for the purpose of bringing about this result will depend largely on the properties of the particular wire being wound. It will be understood, therefore, that the orientation of the coiling section with respect to the cutting section will be variable and adjustable and means to provide for such adjustment, such as adjustableplatforms, etc. may be used although for convenience of illustration they are not shown.

In order to insure neat and accurate cutting of the moving coil, without mangling the general cylindrical form thereof or even bending the cut ends away from the outline of the cylindrical configuration, the continuously moving coil 20 is caused to assume a second type of curvature illustrated by the Figure 13 and which is dependent upon the pitch of the "particular coil being formed. As'will be se'en'from Fig. 12, and as is shown schematically in somewhat exaggerated effect in Fig. 113, the orientation 'of the two sections is so arranged that the coil tends to assume a generally uphill direction immediately preceding its entry into the blades 30 and '31. The purpose of thisis better seen from Fig. 13. Normally, the coil 20 will have a pitch such that the succesive'turns, in effect, 'present gaps between them which are slightly inclined from the vertical. Thus, looking at Fig. 13, lines '33 in effect represent the plane of the gaps between adjacent coils; 'the inclination of the lines 33 from the vertical is a measure of the pitch of coil 20. ln'order'that the coil be cut neatly, the knife blades should be parallel to such planes in order that they may enter the configuration of the coil in directions parallel to the pitch. If they attempt to enter without such parallelism'they will tend to crush or mangle the coils. Accordingly, in the arrangement of the invention, the knife blades and coil are so oriented with respect to each other that the knife blades tend to enter with their leading edge parallel to these gaps between turns. it is for that reason that the coil is shown as rising in a generally uphill path preceding its arrival at the plane 34 of the knife blades, the degree of rise being such as to bring the successive turns or successive gaps between the turns into parallelism with the knife blade at the top of the uphill climb, i. e., at a point 35. As will 'be apparent from the figure, the knife blades may then enter the coil easily and will exert no forces on it until both simultaneously engage opposite sides of the wire itself; they cannot simultaneously engage opposite sides of the overall cylindrical form and thus crush it. As indicated, the wire resumes its normal horizontal position after leaving the knife blades. It is understood that the coil will bend downhill rather than uphill if the pitch direction is the opposite of that indicated.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to make better use of the invention, the further detailed structure of the machine will now be set forth.

Drive for rollers and mandrel The power supply 'for the mandrel and rollers may originate at suitable means such as the electric motor 36 which, through a sheave and belt system 37 drives the shaft 38 of the mandrel 22, this shaft and the mandrel being so mounted as indicated that they are fixed with respect to base 25 except for rotation. The motor 36is provided with a second sheave and belt system 39 which drives the input end of the variable speed transmission 24 (adjustableby means of crank 4d); and the output end of the transmission 24 drives through a suitable chain and gear system 41 (Fig. 2) the shafts 42 and 43 (Fig. 4) to which the flexible shafts 26 are connected. Thus, by adjustment of the transmission 24 with crank 40, the flexible shafts 26 may be variedin speed so that the peripheral "speed of the rollers '23 maybe adjusted with respect to that of coil 20. Shafts 38, 42 and 43 are mounted in housing 44 fixed to base 25.

Mounting and bias adjustment of rollers The manner of supporting the rollers 23 from the fixed base 25 of the machine is perhaps better seen in such figures as Figs. 2 through 5. Journaled on housing 44 for rotation concentrically with shaft 54 (see Figs. 2 and 7) are roller support arms 45 having upright portions 45A and radial portions 45B (see Fig. 3). On portions 45A are pivotally mounted a pair of roller bias arms 27 as previously explained. The shafts 46 which support the rollers 23 on their outer ends are supported within the arms 47 of the roller bias arms 27 and connect with the flexible shafts 26. The arms 48 of the roller bias arms 27 are provided with knobbed extensions 49 which are engaged by the lever 29 when the latter is used to make a bias adjustment of the rollers 23. The roller bias arms 27, as previously stated, rotate about bolts 28, but they may belocked in some fixed bias position by means of the lock nuts and bolts 50, which firmly engage both the roller bias arms 27 and the portions 45A when tightened, the arcuate slots 51 being provided in the portions 45A so that adjustment may be made when the lock nuts and bolts are loosened. It is thusapparent that the rollers 23 may be tilted so that their axes assume different angles with respect to horizontal when said axes are tilted in vertical planes parallel to the mandrel 22. From the operation of the lever 29 presently to'be explained, it will be understood that these inclinations from the horizontal of the axes of the two rollers 23 are equal and opposite, i. e., when the end of one axis tilts downward, the corresponding end of the other tilts upward.

Lever 29 is better seen in Fig. 6 and is so mounted on housing 44 that it may be rotated coaxially with the shaft 38 and the mandrel 22. It is provided with a pair of slots 52 which permit it so to move without interfering with the flexible cables 26, the latter extending through the slots 52. It is also provided with a similar pair of slots 53 into which the ball-like ends 49 of the arms 48 project. As the lever 29 is rotated, it will, therefore, cause the arms 48 to tilt the end of the axis of one roller 23 downward and the corresponding end of the axis of the other roller upward. The dotted line position of Fig. 6 is an illustration. The flexible shafts 26 accommodate the motion. The lever 29 may be locked releasably, in various positions, by means of the knurled-head screw 29a which tightens a friction lock 2% against the mounting frame part.

In order to accommodate different sizes of wires for reasons to be indicated later on, the arm 45A which supports the roller bias arm 27 which is to the front of the machine is made movable in the direction of the axis of that roller 23 as the Figure 7 will indicate. This is accomplished by mounting the arm 45A on a shaft 54 slidable within the bushing 54A which rotatably supports the arm 45B. Shaft 54 is longitudinally movable by virtue of its attachment to the similar slidable shaft 55 and is mounted. for rotation in bushing 54A. The latter shaft ismovable along its length by means of a rack and pinion 55a or like mechanism 'driven by a knob 56 having a pointer 56a and scale 56b on the front of the housing 44.

It will be understood that this means the front roller 23 (the one to the left in Fig. 3 and visible in Fig. 2) may be displaced from the other roller 23 or from the mandrel 22 in directions parallel to the axes of any of these. The shafts 54 and 55 are interconnected by an arm 55B.

Roller support arms 45 are interjoined by spring 45C connected between their upright portions 45A and pro vided with threaded adjustment means 45D which permit the operator to set the distance of separation between mandrel 22 and rollers 23.

The details of the attachment of the rollers 23 to the shafts 46 is illustrated in Fig. 5. The rollers 23 are mounted for rotation on arm 47 with the aid of the friction bearings 57. The shafts 46 extend through the arms 47. and through the annular end faces 58 of the rollers 23. Since it is sometimes desirable that the rollers 23 have no power applied to them by shafts 46 and that they rotate only by virtue of friction between them and coil 20, the shafts 46 may either be afiixed to the end faces 58 through suitable keying mechanisms illustrated by the keyhole 59, into which a suitable key would fit to bind the rollers and shafts 46 together, or they may be disconnected from end faces 58. Removal of keys from the keyhole 59 would permit the rollers 23 to ride freely without transmission of power from shafts 46 to them.

The rollers 23 are constructed so that they may accommodate a wide variety of annular metal surfaced working rings or tools on their peripheries which rings or tools are to make the actual engagement with the coil 20 being wound. It will be understood that the character of the tool may vary widely, depending upon the particular job being performed, i. e., upon the wire size, coil pitch, separation between adjacent turns of the coil, etc. In Fig. 5 driving engagement between left-hand roller 23 and the coil 20 takes place at the point of contact between coil 20 and an annular working collar or ring 60 which slides over the cylindrical form of the roller. Both rollers are provided with similar rings 61 of slightly larger diameter which serve as end stops or guides for the coil and both rings 61 and 60 are held on the rollers 23 by means of the holding rings 62 and the end faces 58 which are bolted, as shown at 63, to the main body of the rollers 23. In operation, the wire which i supcating bath 65 by way of the sheave 66 continues upward to be fed to the mandrel 22. A bracket 66a supports the sheave 66.

It should be apparent that the rollers are never actually in contact with the mandrel. Their outermost surfaces engage the outermost surface of the coil either to supply driving power to it, to drag on it as a brake (depending on the relative speeds), or to ride freely on it serving only as guides. To this end, the roller support arms 45 will be drawn together by spring tension of the tensioning spring 45C in order that the rollers 23 will be biased to a position just short of engagement with the mandrel 22 but sufficiently close so that when Wire is wound on the mandrel the working tools on the rollers 23 will engage the outer surface of the coil 20 as it is being formed.

noted. Referring to the Figures 8 through 11, it will be noted that the shaft 38 terminates in a cup-shaped.

member 68 afiixed to the shaft and that this threadedly' engages a clamp-like second cup-member 69 which is.

adapted to clamp the tooth mechanism of the chuck. The actual teeth of the chuck are shown by the numeral 70 and are illustrated as three in number. These are held together by the molded rubber blocks 71 which adhere firmly to the teeth so that the three of them are held together as a unit. When the teeth are positioned as shown in the Figure 8, with the mandrel 22 between them, a tightening of the cap 69 by rotation will compress the teeth together into firm engagement with the mandrel 22, the plasticity of the rubber facilitating the operation.

Safety stop begins to form improperly on the mandrel, as by wind ing itself in radially accumulating layers, there may be provided the saddle-like mechanism 72 (Fig. 3) which clamps vise-like over the upright portions 45A of arms the 'coil being wound should tend to form improperly to the extent of accumulating multiple radial layers and pushing the rollers 23 outwards. This device 72 is shown as comprising the rod 73 (Fig 3) to the one end of which is attached a microswitch '74 'whichma'y control the circuit of the motor 36. At the other end of rod 73 is a clamp 75 which is slidable along the length of rod 73 and adjustable by means of the threaded adjustment nut 76 which is threaded to the rod 72. In use, the clamp 75 and the microswitch 74 will engage the outer surfaces of the upright portions 45A of arms 45 when they are set at the position corresponding to that desired for the particular wire size being handled. The actual contact of the switch 74 with the right-hand arm 45 occurs at the actuating button 77. It will be apparent, therefore, that if the'rollers 23 be pushed apart by an accumulation of wire between them, as when the coil begins to form improperly, the microswitch will be actuated to de-energize the motor.

The cutting section Referring particularly to the Figures 1 and 12 through 15, the cutter section includes an electromagnet 78 for actuating the movable knife blade 30 when a pre-determined length of the continuously advancing coil 26 has passed by the knife blades; this electromagnet 73 also actuates the mechanism shown in Figure 15 for dropping the cut length of coil into a collecting trough. The actuation of the electromagnet 78 is controlled by a photoelectric mechanism 79 adjustably positionable along the length of the cutter mechanism so that it may be adjusted to cut off different lengths of coil. When the forward tip of the advancing coil enters this photo-electric mechanism, the electromagnet 78 is energized by circuits which'are not shown.

Actuation of the electromagnet 78 will advance its armature 80 (Figure 14) and thereby advance the movable blade 39 toward the fixed blade 31. The armature 80 connects with the lever 81 by means of a pin 80a. At the same time it rotates the lever 81 counterclockwise for purposes to be explained. The knife blade is slidably mounted (motion in horizontal plane) on the base 82 of the cutter section by means of suitable slot and pin mechanisms 83. The blade 36) is biased to a Withdrawn position (that shown in Fig. 14) by the tension spring 84 so that it is normally in a position to be advanced for a cutting operation whenelectromagnet 78 is energized. Fixed blade 31 is, of course, suitably mounted in fixed relationship to the base 82. that both blades are flat strips positioned in vertical planes. The cutting edge of the movable blade 3d may be considered as facing upward. It will also be noticed that the geometry of the entire arrangement is such that after cutting, blade 30 may continue to advance leftward far enough that the coil Zil may advance freely in the direction of its length in the position now shown without contacting the blade 30, in which case it will be advancing over the top edge 32 of the blade 30. It will also be apparent that as the spring 84 retracts the knife blade 30(to the position actually shown) when the electromagnet 73 is ale-energized, the advancing coil 2U- may ride upon the inclined back edge 32 of blade 30 and'fall off in-front of the cutting edge 35 to return to the position shown in which it may be considered as below an inclined or overhanging portion of the cutting edge of blade 31.

Figure 15 shows a cross-section through the length of the mechanism in which the advancing coil 20 moves. This mechanism may comprise an elongated guide 'chan nel '87 having an elongated trap door mechanism 88 normally closing its bottom. This mechanism is pivoted at 89 so that it may be withdrawn by rotation to open the bottom of channel 87 although it is normally biased to close the same by the spring 90. When the lever It is to be noticed 81 is actuated by the electromagnet 78 and rotates counterclockwise it will withdraw the mechanism 88 against the biasing force of spring 90'so that the cut length of coil 20 may drop down the inclined guide surface 91 into the trough 92. Trough 92 is shown as holding apluralityofsuccessively cut lengths 93 which have been cut from the continuously advancing coil 20. The-spring 90 has suificient tension to bias thev lever 81 clockwise to the position shown through the spring 94. The guide channel etc., may be mounted by supporting structure 95. The knife blades 30 may be adjustably fastened by screws 30a.

This is a continuation of application Serial 251,053, filed October 12, 1951, and subsequently abandoned.

I claim:

1. A wire coiling machine including a .rotary mandrel having a free end, means for rotating said mandrel, means for feeding wire transversely onto said mandrel at a location spaced from said free end so that the wire may-Wind on said mandrel to form a helical coil sliding axially forwardly on said mandrel towards and oversaid free end, rotary tools forming at least one substantially radial surface positioned to engage the rear of the first convolution of said coil forming at said location and preventing said convolution from sliding axially backwardly on said mandrel in a direction away from said free end and one of said tools forming at least one substantially cylindrical surface positioned to bear substantially tangentially against at least said first convolution and holding the latter radially against said mandrel, said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface being entirely'free from contact with said mandrel sothat said substantially cylindrical surface and said mandrel may be rotated at peripheral speeds differing relative to each other,means for rotating said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface, and means for varying the peripheral speed of said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface relative to the peripheral speed of said mandrel, said tools each having amounting roller on which the tool is rigidly mounted, a roller support arm for each of the rollers, each arm having means for journaling one of its end portions, a tension spring interconnecting said arms and elastically pulling them together, each roller having a roller biasing arm for pivotally connecting said biasing arm to said-suppotr arm so that said roller may swing in an arcuate path about the'pivotal connection between said roller biasing arm and said roller support for angularly adjusting said roller relatively to said support arm, a lever operatively connected to each of said roller biasing arms so that the rollers may move towards and from each other with their biasing arms and support arms, and means for mounting said lever for rocking movement about an axis extending between said rollers so that when the lever is rocked the angularities of the rollers on their arms are changed synchronously in opposite directions with respect to each other.

2. A helical wire coil winding machine including a rotary mandrel having a free end, means for feeding wire transversely to a portion of the mandrel spaced from its free end, rotary rollers located on opposite sides of said portion and having free ends extending in the direction of the mandrels free end and having peripheral surfaces positioned to bear in a rolling manner on the wire when it is helically wound on said portion, said peripheral surfaces being contoured so as to be spaced free from the mandrel when bearing on the wire wound thereon and these surfaces and the peripheral surface of the mandrel extending in an axially smooth fashion'to all of said free ends so thatas the wire is continuously wound on said portionthe resulting helical coil'may slide therefrom axially past'said free ends and away therefrom as a continuously traveling coil, the peripheral surface of at least one of said rollers being made of rigid material and enlarged in diameter, at a location opposite to the end of said portion most remote from the mandrels free end, to a diameter which at most is less than the diameter of the wire wound on said portion and so as to form a radially projecting stop for the forming end of said coil, a roller support arm for each of the rollers, each arm having means for jounaling one of its end portions, a tension spring interconnecting said arms and elastically pulling them together, each roller having a roller biasing arm for pivotally connecting said biasing arm to said support arm so that said roller may swing in an arcuate path about the pivotal connection between said roller biasing arm and said roller support arm for angularly adjusting said roller relatively to said support arm, a lever operatively connected to each of said roller biasing arms so that the rollers may move towards and from each other with their biasing arms and support arms, and means for mounting said lever for rocking movement about an axis extending between said rollers so that when the lever is rocked the angularities of the rollers on their arms are changed synchronously in opposite directions with respect to each other.

3. A helical wire coil winding machine including a rotary mandrel having a free end, means for feeding wire transversely to a portion of the mandrel spaced from its free end, rotary rollers located on opposite sides of said portion and having free ends extending in the direction of the mandrels free end and having peripheral surfaces positioned to bear in a rolling manner on the wire when it is helically wound on said portion, said peripheral surfaces being contoured so as to be spaced free from the mandrel when bearing on the wire wound thereon and these surfaces and the peripheral surface of the mandrel extending in an axially smooth fashion to all of said free ends so that as the wire is continuously wound on said portion the resulting helical coil may slide therefrom axially past said free ends and away therefrom as a continuously traveling coil, the peripheral surface of at least one of said rollers being made of rigid material and being enlarged in diameter at a lo cation opposite to the end of said portion most remote from the mandrels free end to a diameter which at most is less than the diameter of the wire wound on said portion and so as to form a radially projecting stop for the forming end of said coil, a roller supporting arm for each of the rollers, each arm having means for journaling one of its end portions, a tension spring interconnecting said arms and elastically pulling them together so that the rollers peripheries press on the wire wound on the mandrel, each roller having a roller biasing arm for pivotally connecting said biasing arm to said support arm so that said roller may swing in an arcuate path about the pivotal connection between said roller biasing arm and said roller support for angularly adjusting said roller relatively to said support arm, a lever operatively connected to each of said roller biasing arms so that the rollers may move towards and from each other with their biasing arms and support arms, and means for mounting said lever for rocking movement about an axis extending between said rollers so that when the lever is rocked the angularities of the rollers on their brackets are changed synchronously in opposite directions with respect to each other, said means for journaling said arms end portions being adjustable in an axial direction with respect to said rollers so that the relative transverse locations of the rollers maybe adjustably shifted axially.

4. A helical wire coil winding machine including a rotary mandrel having a free end, means for feeding wire transversely to a portion of the mandrel spaced from its free end, rotary rollers located on opposite sides of said portion and having free ends extending in the direction of the mandrels free end and having peripheral surfaces positioned to bear in a rolling manner on the wire when it is helically wound on said portion, said peripheral surfaces being contoured so as to be spaced free from the mandrel when bearing on the wire wound thereon and these surfaces and the peripheral surface of the mandrel extending in an axially smooth fashion to all of said free ends so that as the wire is continuously wound on said portion the resulting helical coil may slide therefrom axially past said free ends and away there= from as a continuously traveling coil, the peripheral sur face of at least one of said rollers being made of rigid material and in each instance being enlarged in diameter at a location opposite to the end of said portion most remote from the mandrels' free end to a diameter which at most is less than the diameter of the wire wound on said portion and so as to form a radially projecting stop of the forming end of said coil, a roller supporting arm for each of the rollers, each arm having means for journaling one of its end portions, a tension spring interconnecting said arms and elastically pulling them together so that the rollers peripheries press on the wire wound on the mandrel, each roller having a roller biasing arm for pivotally connecting said biasing arm to said support arm so that said roller may swing in an arcuate path about the pivotal connection between said roller biasing arm and said roller support for angularly adjusting said roller relatively to said support arm, a lever operatively connected to each of said roller biasing arms so that the rollers may move towards and from each other with their biasing arms and support arms, and means for mounting said lever for rocking movement about an axis extending between said rollers so that when the lever is rocked the angularities of the rollers on their brackets are changed synchronously in opposite directions with respect to each other, said means for journaling said arms end portions being adjustable in an axial direction with respect tosaid rollers so that the relative transverse directions of the rollers may be adjustably shifted axially, both of said rollers having flexible shafts connected axially thereto and said shafts each having means for rotating them at locations remote from said rollers.

5. A wire coiling machine including a rotary mandrel having a free end and rotatively mounted portion spaced backwardly away from said free end, means for rotating said mandrel, means for feeding wire transversely onto said mandrel at a location spaced axially from said mounted portion, means for feeding said wire in a substantially stationary linear path to the side of said mandrel which rotates in the same direction said wire is feeding so that the wire may wind on said mandrel to form a helical coil sliding axially forwardly on said mandrel towards and over said free end with said mandrel and coil rotating in the same rotary direction, rotary tools which are all axially offset transversely from the axis of said mandrel and forming at least one surface lying in a transverse plane positioned to engage the rear of the first convolution of said coil forming at said location and preventing said convolution fro-m sliding axially backwardly on said mandrel in a direction away from said free end and one of said tools forming at least one substantially cylindrical surface positioned to bear substantially tangentially against at least said first convolution and holding the latter radially against said mandrel, said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface being entirely free from contact with said mandrel so that said substantially cylindrical surface and said mandrel may be rotated at peripheral speeds differing relative to each other, means for rotating said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of said mandrel so that the peripheral portions of said mandrel and said coil and said substantially cylindrical surface all travel in the same peripheral directions at their respective areas of contact with each other, means for varying the peripheral speed of said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface relative to the peripheral speed of said mandrel, and mounting means for said rotary tools for varying the angular posi! 1. 1 tion of said rotary tools relative to an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each of said rotary tools.

6. A wire coiling machine including a rotary mandrel having a free end and a rotatively mounted portion spaced backwardly away from said'free end, means for rotating said mandrel, means for feeding wire transversely onto said mandrel at a location spaced axially from said mounted portion, means for feeding said wire in a substantially stationary linear path to the side of said mandrel which rotates in thesame direction said wire is feeding so that the wire may wind on said mandrel to form a helical coil sliding axially forwardly on said mandrel towards and over said free end with said mandrel and coil rotating in the same rotary direction, rotary tools which are all axially offset transversely from the axis of said mandrel and (forming at least one surface lying in a transverse planepositioned to engage the rear of the firstconvolution of "said coil forming at said location and preventing said convolution'from sliding axially backwardly on said mandrel in a directionaway from said free endv and one of said tools forming at least one substantially cylindrical surface positioned to bear substantially tangentially against at'least said first convolution and holding the latter radially against said mandrel, said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface being entirely'free from contact with said mandrel so that said substantially cylindrical surface and said mandrel may be rotated at peripheral speeds differing relative to each other, means for rotating'said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of said mandrel so' that the peripheral portions of said mandrel andrsaid .coil and said "substantially cylindrical surface all travel in the same peripheral directions at their respective areas of contact with each other, 'means'fo'r varying the peripheral speed of said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface relative to the peripheral speed of said mandrel, and mounting means for said rotary tools for varying the angular position of said rotary tools relative to an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each of said rotary tools, said machine including means for passing the wire througha lubricating bath PIlOIJtO the wire'feeding onto said mandrel.

7. A wire coiling machine including a' rotary mandrel having a 'free end and a rotatively mounted portion spaced backwardly away'from said free end, means for rotating said mandrel, means for feeding wire transversely onto said mandrel at a location spaced axially from said mounted portion, means for feeding'said wire in a substantially stationary linear path to the side of said'rnandrel which rotates in the same direction said wire is feeding so that the wire may wind on said mandrel to form a helical-coil sliding axially forwardly on said mandrel towards and over said free end with said mandrel and coil rotating in the same rotary direction, rotary tools which are all axially offset transversely from the axis of said mandrel and forming 'at leastone surface lying'in a transverse plane positioned to engage the rear of the first convolution of said coil forming at said location and'preventing said convolution from sliding'axially backwardly on said mandrel in'a direction away from said free end and one of said tools forming at least one substantiallycylindrical surface positioned tobear substantially tangentially against at least said first convolution and holding the latter radially against said mandrel, said'tool forming said substantially cylindrical surfacebeing entirely free from contact with said mandr'elso thatsaid substantially cylindrical surface and said mandrel maybe rotated at peripheral speeds differing relativet'o each other, means for rotating said tool forming said'siibstantially cylindrical surface in a direction opposite tothe rotating direction of said mandrel-so that the peripheral portions of said mandrel and said coil and said substantially cylindrical surface all travel in the same peripheral directions at their respective areas of 1'2? contact'wi'th each other, means for varying the peripheral speed of said tool forming said substantiallycylindrical surface relative to theperipheral speed of said mandrel, and mounting meansfor said rotary tools'for varying the angulariposition of said rotary-tools relative 'to an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each of said rotary tools, saidmachine including means for passing the wire through a lubricating bath prior to the wire feeding onto said mandrel, at least said substantially cylindrical surface being movable radially with respect to said mandrel, and adjustable means for elastically forcing said substantially cylindrical surface radially against said convolution with a variable force.

8. A wire coiling machine including a rotary mandrel having a free end and a rotatively mounted portion spacecl'backwardly away from said free end, means for rotating said mandrel, means for feeding wire transversely onto said mandrel at a location spaced axially from said mounted, portion, means for feeding said wire in a substantially stationary linear path to the side of said mandrel which rotates in the same direction said wire is feeding so that the wire may wind on said mandrel to form a helical coil sliding axially forwardly onsaid mandreltowards and over said free end with saidrnandrel and coil rotating in the same rotary direction, rotary tools which are all axially offset transversely frorn'the axis of said mandrel and forming at least one surface lying in a transverse plane positioned to engage the rear of the first convolution of said coil forming at said location and preventing said convolution from sliding axially backwardly on said mandrel in a direction away from said free end and one of said tools forming at least one substantially cylindrical surface positioned to bear substantiaily'tangentially against at least said first convolution and holding thelatter radially against said mandrel, said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface being entirely free from contact with said mandrel so that said substantially cylindrical surface and said mandrel may be rotated at peripheral speeds differing relative to each other, means for rotating said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of said mandrel so that the peripheral portions of said mandrel and said coil an'd said substantially cylindrical surface all travel in the same peripheral directions at their respective areas of contact withleach other, means for varying the peripheral speed of said tool forming said substantially cylindrical surface relative to the peripheral speed of said mandrel, and mounting means for said rotary tools for varying the angular position of said rotary tools relative to an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each of said rotary tools, said machine including means for passing the wire through a lubricating bath prior to the wire feeding onto said mandrel, at least said substantially cylindrical surface being movable radially with respect to said mandrel, and adjustable means for elastically forcing said substantially cylindrical surface radially against said convolution with a variable force and this last-named tool having a radially flexible drive connecting it with its said rotating means and being substantially free from radially displacing forces other than that applied by said adjustable means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 372,423 Mallet-Guy Nov. 1, 1887 483,321 Fulghum Sept. 27, 1892 805,724 Hatter Nov.'28, 1905 809,413 Weaver Ian, 9, 1906 1,363,808 Ohlau Dec. 28,1920 1,367,814 Hathaway Feb. 8, 1921 1 ,537,150 'Solliday May 12, 1925 1,849,705 Burd Mar. 15,1932

(Other references on following page) 13 UNITED STATES PATENTS Reimers Apr. 5, 1934 Horton Ian. 30, 1940 Platt Jan. 7, 1941 Platt Oct. 21, 1941 Karasick Oct. 6, 1942 Freundlich Nov. 6, 1945 Balla July 23, 1946 Garreau Dec. 2, 1947 14 Ness May 18, 1948 Wilson Sept. 28, 1948 Schryber Jan. 23, 1951 Andersen May 8, 1952 Crooker June 30, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 24, 1931 Great Britain Nov. 2, 1939 

